Backfill · 2022
#286 of 357Split-Screen Multitasking on iPad
Screenshot: iPad display showing two apps side by side in split-screen mode, a notes app on the left and a video player on the right, with a thin black divider between them.
I finally figured out how to use split screen on my iPad, and it changed how I do homework completely. Having my notes open on one side and the lecture recording on the other feels like I unlocked a second monitor without buying one. I don't understand why it took me 2 years to try this. The gesture to pull an app over from the side isn't obvious at all, but once you learn it you start dragging apps around like second nature. I keep my reading on the left and my highlights app on the right. Annotation is so much faster than switching back and forth. My friends saw me doing it in the library and 3 of them asked me to show them how. The screen is big enough that neither app feels cramped, which surprised me because I always assumed tablets were too small for real multitasking. Features that don't announce themselves but completely change your workflow once you find them are the best kind. I want every device to work like this now.